Chapter 5.

It had been half a rotation since Anakin left the surface of Onderon much to his dismay. He hadn't had the chance to smooth things over with Ahsoka nor win her back. Anakin knew that somewhere deep down Ahsoka still harboured feelings for him but he couldn't help but feel sorry for himself. As soon as the war had ended, he betrayed Ahsoka to rush back to his life that he had left behind. All he wanted was Ahsoka's forgiveness and to wholeheartedly apologise and for her to say that she didn't love him anymore… the very thought of Ahsoka not loving him anymore crushed his chest, worse than the time he was caught in the explosion that landed them on Maridun. Anakin had stayed on Coruscant for those three months to help Padme raise her children whilst Obi wan settled Petro and Zatt and began to start a new life. He knew that deep down he shouldn't have waited, he knew that Ahsoka had needed him but something kept him on Coruscant. To protect the newly born force wielders, something he didn't have the chance to talk about to Ahsoka. He wanted her back by his side, start a new life together.

Anakin paced the bridge furiously, half angry, half disappointed. Obi wan was watching beadily, ready to slice his legs off with his lightsabre.

"Anakin, you need to calm down," he chided, "there was nothing you could do. Her mind was made up. You know how she is".

"That's not the point, Obi wan, I want her back… I need her," pain was strained within his voice. He choked and swallowed his pride. Anakin knew that he and Padme would never work but he fell for her charm momentarily, her beauty and the whimsical clutches of his first love.

"I'm sure she'll come around even with her feelings for Lux," Obi wan stated nonchalantly.

"Lux," Anakin growled, "he was pretty smug when I saw him again".

Obi wan chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder, "and I'm sure you left your mark on him too. Don't worry, Ahsoka just needs time to reflect".

Anakin just smiled and stood still, watching over the bridge, I hope you're right, old man he thought to himself. I think I've lost her…

The entire ship shook with an unwelcome jolt as all power was lost throughout its entirety. Everyone onboard became suspended momentarily, fear encapsulating the bridge as the split-second wait for back-up power began. Anakin and Obi wan blinked at each other, heads turning before their bodies collapsed unceremoniously to the metallic floor. The hyperdrive went offline, slowly losing momentum, bringing them out of hyperspace, the ship steadying as the void swallowed them.

Anakin stood up with a groan, helping Obi wan to his feet. Anakin surveyed the room as wounded propped themselves up against the nearest surface. A trooper burst through to the bridge reporting that the life support was failing. The ship becoming practically dead weight in space with only primary engines to get them to the nearest star system.

Anakin ran to the communications room and found Commander Fox looking at a holo-projection of the ship.

"The ship's hyperdrive is beyond repair. The clone guard and crew are gone," he stated unceremoniously.

"That's not good," Obi wan chimed in, entering the room.

The ship jolted again, black lights flooding the room.

"Primary engines offline!" a clone trooper shouted from the back, furiously tapping away at his station.

"Get me the engine room!" Anakin yelled, waiting impatiently for the link to connect, "What's going on down there!"

"General Skywalker, the powers connected but nothing is firing up. It doesn't make any sense!"

Obi wan and Anakin locked eyes, a sense of nostalgia freezing the air. Their eyes fixing to the door. They both simultaneously approached it, entering the bridge. Anakin could feel his stomach plunge into the void as his eyes fixated onto the obelisk planet through the tempered glass.

Anakin and Obi wan awoke to a bipolar sky, gloomy on one side and sunny on the other. The ship was perfectly split down the middle, mimicking the sky as they surveyed the familiar landscape.

"There's something here…" Anakin mumbled, holding his head in his hands as Obi wan felt the dramatic seduction of the force taking his spirit to the other side of the planet.

The Son of Mortis is alive…

"….no," Obi wan blurted out, "I thought you killed him?"

I thought so too Anakin thought to ignore Obi wan's comment.

"You didn't use the dagger… you put your lightsabre through him," Obi wan theorised.

"If he wanted any of us dead, he would have done it by now…" Anakin explained which only created more confusion as the clones began to depart the ship.

POV: Anakin Skywalker.

The voice of the Sith holocron still haunts me and it cries out louder more than ever.

'Protect her! You must protect her!'

I can't escape it. I thought I did the right thing by staying at Padme's side but I was wrong… Ahsoka I have wronged you in so many ways and I have ignored the demands of the force. I must protect you for the Sith to be destroyed but I fear it is too late. The voice hasn't stopped since we brought the end of the clone wars but the essence of the force speaks with eminence.

I commanded the force to tap into my connection with Ahsoka but failed to touch her aura. Where are you Ahsoka, I need you… I paused and hoped for a reply, urging the force to let me survey her figure. If desperation was a person, it would be me.

I could feel my body wavering as my focus began to unravel. An armour-clad hand cavorting my shoulder. Commander Fox stood behind me and ordered me to come inside, removing my being from my meditation. The sky tumbled violently, aqua droplets beginning to descend upon the land. Reluctantly, I hauled my feet to the cover of the ship.

I could hear the urgency of a feathered commotion approach, cooing in annoyance as it dove for the shelter of the ship, arriving with a perfunctory clunk next to my right boot. It shuddered, abruptly jiggling off the water upon its plumage. I bent down and offered it my arm as it gawked up at me, tilting its head to one side. It cooed again, jovially springing onto my arm.

I smirked at it as it tilted its head to each side as if in deep thought with an ember of predatory primal instinct. Its eyes declared the pure essence of the force as it continued to ogle my façade.

"I see you found a friend," Obi wan poked, as he strode by with commander Fox in tow.

I smiled and sat down on the landing ramp with the bird on my arm. I think I remember Ahsoka calling it a convor. The thought of Ahsoka fleeting across my mind entailed the balance of my being. The convor tapped my metal limb as if experimenting its edibility before tapping it again, but hard as Ahsoka's voice beckoned my ear.

Ahsoka? I fed through the force, trying our connection once more. Ahsoka… I need you.

I know. She propelled back with haste.